Can't Hide Any More
by Timeforachange
Summary: A friend of Stella comes to visite. What will happen when bodies turns up looking like someone they know? Rated T to be on the safe side: Crossover with NCIS
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

She was sitting in her seat looking at the people around her. There were no going back, she had made up her mind. She couldn't take it any more. All her thoughts were interrupted by the stewardess.

"Do you want something to drink, Miss?"

"No thank you"

As the stewardess left she felt back to her thoughts. She had had a really bad argument with her boyfriend and just had to get away. She had thought about staying in Washington, but couldn't stand the possibility of meeting him everyday. So she had made up her mind, she would go to New York and be with her friend there till she could go back home. The only thing she didn't know was if she could ever go home.

"This is the captain speaking we will be landing in New York City in about 20 minutes"

She was really glad that she left Washington and was going to New York. The only thing she didn't do before leaving was telling her friend she would come. So the first thing she would do when she got off the plane was to call her friend.

20 minutes later the plane landed in the airport and after another 15 minutes she was ready to leave. As she got into the cab she took out her phone and looked at the missed calls. They were all from her boyfriend.

"Where to, miss?" the cabdriver asked

"NYPD crime lab, please" she responded

She looked at her phone again and decided to wait to call her boyfriend back before she knew what she wanted. Instead she decided to call her friend.

"Bonasera" she heard her friend say

"Hey Snowflake" she said, mostly to surprise Stella because she knew Stella would understand who she was.

"Oh. My. God... Hey Penguin" Stella shouted "It's been a long time... How are you?" Stella asked her friend.

"I'm good. I'm in NY for a vacation"

"Oh really you're in NY?. We have to meet then" at that time Penguin paid the cabdriver for the trip and stepped into the NYPD building.

"So where are you right now? Maybe we can meet for lunch" Stella said.

"I'm right down stairs. I'm standing at the security desk" Penguin said.

"Give them the phone and I will tell them to send you up. Then I can show you around and we can go out for lunch" Stella told Penguin.

"Security" the security guard said

"Hey this is Stella Bonasera. Would you please let this women in so she can meet me at the lab?"

"Sure. We will send her up now"

Stella waited by the elevator for her friend. She was excited to hear Penguin was in town and couldn't wait to see her. The elevator doors opened and Stella smiled at her friend.

"Hey Penguin nice to see you" Stella said

"Hey Snowflake nice to see you too" Penguin answered

"I'm off in ten minutes and then we can get some lunch. Is that okay with you?" Stella asked her friend as they started to walk through the lab.

"Yeah that's fine with me" Penguin said

"Okay. Let me show you the lab and then I will grab my things and we can go" Stella showed her friend the lab. Nobody was in so it was really quiet.

"Where is everyone?" Penguin asked

"They are all out on cases. Thankfully I'm not. It has been a long night so I'm glad to be off" Stella said as they worked to her office after she had showed her friend the lab.

"I can't believe you're here. It's been so long since I saw you last" Stella smiled "Are you ready to get some lunch?" Stella asked after she had grabbed her purse and jacket from her office.

"Yes I am. Can't wait to talk like old times" Penguin said. They walked out of the lab and down the street to a little restaurant where they sat down and ordered some lunch.

"So tell me what you're doing here. I know you and you don't just go on vacation without a reason. So tell me what it is" Stella said. Penguin signed she knew Stella would make her say it no matter what.

"I had a fight with my boyfriend" Penguin started. She saw the look on Stella's face and knew she had to explain what happened.

"Do you remember six month ago, when I called you and told you that I found a boyfriend?" she asked Stella. Stella nodded "Yeah, you called me and told me you finally found one you definitely thought will be the right one. It was the first time in two years that I heard from you. Of course I remember" Stella told Penguin with a smile reaching her eyes.

"Yes that's the one. We have been together ever since. He makes me so happy, but we had a big fight and it's not the first. I just couldn't take it any more. He treats me like a child when it comes to my safety" she told Stella. Stella could see how much this affected her friend. She didn't know what to say.

"Why did you leave town? Not that I don't like you're here, but don't you have friends or co-workers in Washington you could have stayed with?" Stella asked. She looked at her friend and could see that she was hiding something. Stella couldn't put a finger on what it was, but she didn't want to push either. Penguin could see Stella looked at her with the face that says 'I know there is something you ain't telling me'.

"I know what you're thinking" Penguin finally said after some time. "What?" asked Stella, trying to sound surprised by her friend's statement.

"I know you Snowflake. You can't hide. And you're right there is something I'm not telling you" Stella always knew she had lost a game to her friend, when she was called Snowflake. But also when it had something to do with their thinking. They could always tell what the other one was thinking just by looking each other in the eyes. It was something Stella used on Mac as well. She liked the fact that she could tell what Mac was thinking, most of the time, and that he wasn't as good as she was.

It made Stella smile every time she thought about Mac and now wasn't an exception. She knew Penguin would find out sooner or later what she felt about Mac, because Penguin was the only one she couldn't hide anything from.

"Why don't you tell me what it is then. Maybe I can help you" Stella suggested

"The reason why I had to get out of the city is because of my boyfriend, the fights, and my job" Penguin took a deep breath before she continued "My boss is my boyfriend" she finally said and a tear ran down her cheek.

"So that's why. I know how it is to get into fights with my boss, but I don't know what it would be if he was my boyfriend, don't you think you can talk about it and make it work?" Stella asked. She could see her friend was really upset about what had happened between her and her boyfriend. She really hoped they could work it out.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Stella asked

"No, I left without saying anything. I just need some time to think about this. And spend some time with my friend" Penguin smiled at Stella.

"That's totally up to you. Just remember that I'm here if you need to talk. And when you find out what you're gonna do, remember what you told me six month ago" Stella said as she rose from her chair and walked over to her friend and gave her a hug. Penguin smiled and whispered "Thank you".

Not before long the food had arrived and they started to eat as Stella's cell phone rang. Stella looked at the id and answered the phone.

"Hey Mac what's up?" Stella asked her best friend and boss.

"Just wanted to know if you are out of the lab, because I told you to get out before I would return. So I'm just calling for a heads warning" Mac said. Stella could tell by his voice that he was smiling she really like to see Mac smile.

"Okay thanks, but I'm not at the lab any more, so don't worry. I will see you tomorrow. Bye Mac" Stella said and hang up. She put her phone down and looked at her friend who had a big smile on her face.

"What?" asked Stella

"Nothing, you just seem happy" Penguin answered with a smile

"Whatever"

After they finished their lunch they decided to take a walk in Central Park. It was a beautiful day so there were many people in the park. They found a bench where they sat down and looked at all the children playing. Stella was the first one to speak after they had entered the park.

"Do you have a place to stay?" she asked

"No, I was gonna ask you if you knew some place nice and not too expensive, because I don't know how long I'm gonna be here" Penguin answered.

"Can't come up with one right now, but why don't you stay with me. I have a guest room, not big but it has a bed and you can stay there as long as you want" Stella said to her friend with a smile. She wanted her friend to feel at home. She knew her apartment wasn't home to her, but she thought it would be better than a hotel. And they could talk if she needed it.

"If that's okay with you" Penguin said

"Of course it is. It will be just like old times" Stella answered as she hugged her friend before they got up and went to Stella's apartment.

When they came to Stella's apartment they settled down on the couch.

"So is Mac just your boss?" Penguin asked after some time. Stella just looked at her, she didn't know what to say without telling her friend too much. Stella didn't know herself what was going on between them, but something had changed.

"Yes, he's just my boss... and best friend, but nothing more. Why do you ask?" Stella knew the answer to her question. She had gotten the same look earlier after she ended her conversation with Mac.

"Because earlier when you spoke with him you seemed happy. And beyond friendship" Penguin put in before Stella could say anything.

"It was just something he said, nothing else. Do you want to watch some movies and talk?" Stella asked. Glad that her friend let go of the other conversation. "Yeah, we can do that" Penguin answered as her phone rang. Penguin just looked at it without answering it. Stella just looked at her friend. She could see the expression on her friend's face and decided not to say anything. Soon it stopped ringing and they choose some chick flicks to watch.

They had watched a lot of movies and they had had a lot of take out food, which still stood on the coffee table in front of them. Stella could feel the exhaustions from her night shift, it had felt like she had been working for a whole week but it had only been a night shift. Stella could see her friend was tired too so she decided it was time for bed. She showed her friend the guest room and went to bed. She was really glad her friend was here and she would ask Mac tomorrow if she could get a day off to be with her friend.

**Tell me what you think, should I continue?**

**Please review, if you want more :) **

**And I will tell you who Penguin is soon, but maybe you can figure it out.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Mac woke up from his dreams when his cellphone rang. He didn't want to wake up, but he knew it was work and probably a case.

"Taylor"

"Hey Mac, we have a crime scene for you" Flack answered Mac. Mac got the information about where the crime scene was and got out of bed. He knew Danny and Hawkes had plenty to do with their crime scene from yesterday and Lindsay was still on maternity leave so couldn't take her. So he had to take Stella with him on this one. He didn't really want to wake Stella this early, but knew he had to. He finally made his decision and called Stella.

"Bonasera" he heard her say in a sleepy voice.

"Sorry to wake you Stella, but we have a crime scene" Mac told her "How soon can you get there?" Mac asked.

"I will be there in 20 minutes. See you there Mac" Stella told Mac and hang up. After finishing his call with Stella, Mac went to the bathroom and got ready. He was out the door after 10 minutes.

Stella got out of bed after finishing her call with Mac. She really hated New York when she got called to a scene early, she couldn't understand why people had to ruin other peoples sleep. She went to the bathroom to get ready, but stopped at the sound of her friend in there. She could hear Penguin was throwing up.

"Hey Penguin are you okay?" Stella asked

"Yeah I'm fine, just give me five minutes" Penguin answered. Stella could hear something was wrong, but didn't want to push, so she decided to go back to the bedroom and get ready while waiting for Penguin to come out. Stella returned five minutes later to find the door to the bathroom open. She decided to go in and get ready and talk to Penguin afterwards. Ready to go Stella opened the door to the guest room and walked over to the bed her friend laid on.

"Are you okay? You seem pale" Stella said

"Yeah I'm fine, just think I'm coming down with the flue. Have been feeling kind of sick lately, so having a little vacation will be good for me" Penguin answered

"Okay, but call me if anything changes and I will come home. I don't like seeing you like this. I got a call about a case so I have to go. Try to get some sleep and I will call you a little later and hear how you are" Stella said. She was really worried about Penguin, but knew she this vacation is gonna be good for her.

When Stella saw Penguin was asleep she got up and left the room. She quickly gathered her things and left the apartment. The traffic wasn't bad yet, so the drive to the crime scene was pretty fast. When she got there she went up to Mac and Flack who were talking to each other.

"Hey. What do we have?" Stella asked

"45-50 year old male. Gunshot to the head and no ID" Flack told both Mac and Stella.

"Okay thanks Flack" Mac said as they walked over to the body "Stella start to collect evidence and I will take photos". It took them 1 hour to collect all the evidence and mentioned for the ME's to take the body.

"Mac we don't have much to go on. The killer didn't leave anything behind. And we don't know who the victim is" Stella said as she put the little evidence she had collected into the car. When she didn't get a responds from Mac she turned around to look at him. She could see he was in his own mind. She stepped up to him and waves a hand in front of his eyes, that got him back to the world.

"Mac what are you thinking about?" asked Stella

"I was just thinking about a case from yesterday. Danny, Hawkes, and I had a crime scene with a body with no ID, but the COD wasn't a gunshot to the head. I can't help but think there is a connection" Mac said. His mind went back to yesterday and the crime scene. Their victim was unknown and there weren't many evidence to got through and get a lead, but that wasn't the only reason why he was thinking about that case. On the way back from yesterdays crime scene he had called Stella and told her to get out of the office. She had told him she wasn't there and he could hear a female voice in the background. He remembered that the conversation brought a smile to his face and it didn't go unnoticed by Danny or Hawkes. They had wanted to know why Mac had a smile on his face after talking to Stella. Mac had said it was because of something she had said, but the real reason was because she was Stella, his best friend. He had found out that she meant more to him than just being a friend, but he couldn't tell her. He was afraid to lose their friendship. But every time she smiled or laughed he would smile too. Nothing could change that. Mac knew now wasn't the time to think about their conversation yesterday and what it made him feel right now because they had a case and he had a feeling it was connected to the one form yesterday.

He looked at Stella and couldn't help but think she looked beautiful. They packed the last of their things and went back to the lab.

On the way back to the lab Mac called Danny and Hawkes and told them to meet Stella and him in his office, so they could talk about the two cases. Stella on the other hand called Penguin to ask how she was doing. When they finally arrived at the lab they met with Danny and Hawkes.

"Okay the case from yesterday was a male between 45-50, no ID. COD was stabbing to the chest. Today's case us a male between 45-50, no ID. COD is gunshot to the head" Mac informed as he looked at the two case files.

"Danny have we got an ID for the victim from yesterday?" Mac asked to which Danny said "No".

"Mac if we go with your theory about a serial killer, why is the COD different?" Stella asked. Danny and Hawkes looked at Mac, they didn't know about a possible serial killer.

"Normally a serial killer will use the same kind of COD, so why would these two cases be a possible serial killer?" asked Hawkes. He was really confused, he couldn't see why these two cases should have the same killer, nothing suggested that.

"I know. But something tells me we are dealing with a serial killer, but I could be wrong" Mac said.

"Why don't we find out their ID and take it from there. Maybe their ID will tell us something" Mac finished. They all agreed and left the office. Stella was about to say something to Mac when her phone rang. She looked at the ID and answered the phone.

"Penguin are you okay?" she said while looking at a confused Mac. She decided to leave Mac to take the call in a more private room.

"Yeah I'm fine. I think I know what is wrong with me though" Penguin answered

"What is it?" Stella couldn't wait to hear what it was. She couldn't decide if she should be happy or sad, but told herself to wait to hear what was wrong.

"I think I'm pregnant. When I look back at the last couple of weeks I have been feeling sick for two weeks. Oh. My. God. I'm pregnant" Stella could hear that Penguin had just realized what she was saying "I can't be pregnant. I left the father and I don't know if I'm going back to him. Stell my life is falling apart" Stella could hear that Penguin was about to break down. She knew she couldn't do much over the phone, but tried to calm Penguin down. After about 10 minutes Penguin was calm and they ended the call.

Stella went back to Mac who was running prints through AFIS.

"Any hits yet?" Stella asked as she stepped up to him.

"No not yet" Mac said and turned to look at her. He was about to ask her about the call, but was interrupted.

"Mac, I'm sorry about the call, but I have a friend staying with me. She was sick this morning so she called and told me she was feeling better" Stella left the specific details out.

"It's okay Stella. So she's staying with you? Was she with you yesterday when I called you?" asked Mac

"Yes, she came here yesterday. It's been a long time since I saw her last so I'm glad she's here" Stella said with a big smile on her face. Mac was glad Stella smiled it made his day better. Nothing could stop his growing feelings towards Stella and keeping her safe was the most important thing to him. Seeing her happy was music to his ears, that was another important thing to him, seeing her happy. He was about to say something when he was interrupted again, but not by Stella but from a bibbing sound.

"We have a match. Captain Luke David" Mac said as he read the name.

"Okay so our victim from today's crime scene is or was in the navy" Stella said

"Yep, we only got one problem. We have to contact NCIS" Mac told Stella as Danny walked in "What do you got Danny?" Mac and Stella said at the same time.

"Wow, scary. We found an ID for our vic. His name is Edward Morris, he's a marine and he is missing. Or not any more" Danny told them.

"Okay so we're dealing with two marine victims. We have to get NCIS involved. We don't have any choice but to call them" Mac said as his phone rang.

"Taylor"

"Hey Mac. We got another crime scene. 45-50 male, no ID. Don't know COD, but there was a note this time" Flack told Mac.

"What does it say?" Mac asked and got the attention from both Stella and Danny.

"More to come. One will hit harder than you think" Flack read the note to Mac.

"What does that mean? Well we will find out. I will send Danny and Hawkes, they should be there soon" with that Mac ended the call and turned to Danny and told him to go to the crime scene with Hawkes.

Mac and Stella went into Mac's office and decided what to do.

"We have to call NCIS, but they have to come here. The note said there were more to come so we're dealing with a serial killer" Mac said to Stella and picked up the phone to call NCIS.

"Hey Director, this is Mac Taylor with the NYPD crime lab, we have two dead marines possibly a third one. We might be dealing with a serial killer, we found a note on the last victim" Mac said to the Director of NCIS.

"Yes I understand. We will appreciate your help" with that said Mac ended the call.

**Do you still want me to continue? I will tell you who Penguin is and how Stella and Penguin know each other soon.**

**PS. I won't be uploading soon because I'm going on vacation, but as soon as I get back I will update the story... if people want me to:)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

NCIS HQ

DiNozzo walked out of the elevator and into the bullpen. He saw that there was only one other person from his team here. The thought it was weird, but didn't say anything. He sat down at his desk and turn his computer on. After a while he couldn't take the silence any more.

"Am I early or something?" he asked McGee

"No, why?" McGee asked without looking up

"Because Kate isn't here. She normally comes to work before me. And where is the Boss?" Tony asked

"The Boss went for coffee before you got here"

"No surprise there. Maybe he won't notice I'm late. Especially with Kate late this morning. He can't be mad at me when she isn't in yet" Tony stated

"Well I don't know. We will have to wait and see" McGee said. 5 minutes later Gibbs came back to the bullpen.

"DiNozzo you're late again" Gibbs said as he walked pass Tony's desk. "What do you got on our missing Captain?" Gibbs asked his team as he sat down at his desk.

"How did you know...?" Tony started but stop as soon as he saw the look on his boss's face. "Our missing Captain worked at Norfolk and the day he went missing was his day off" Tony told Gibbs. He made his way to the big plasma to show some pictures of the Captain.

"We haven't had the chance to contact the wife yet, but we're still trying" McGee said and added "Kate was checking the wife out, but she isn't in yet so I don't know how long she has gotten" as McGee said that Kate wasn't in yet, Gibbs' face turned in the direction of the females desk.

It wasn't normal for Kate to be late so he began to worry. Normally if something came up she would call someone from the team to let them know, but no one had heard from her.

"McGee, try to call her and hear what she's got" Gibbs ordered as his desk phone rang. Tony looked at Gibbs as he answered the phone. He could tell by the look on Gibbs' face that something was up. After a couple of minutes Gibbs hung up and looked at McGee for some answers.

"I tried her home phone several times, but she isn't answering it" McGee said as Gibbs got up from his chair.

"Try her cell while I speak with the director" Gibbs said as he left the bullpen and walked up the stairs to the director's office.

"What do you think the director wants?" Tony asked McGee as he made his way back to his desk to check his emails. McGee had no luck reaching Kate on her cell either.

"What do you think is wrong with Kate since she isn't answering her phones, like she uses too, and she isn't at work?" McGee asked Tony after trying Kate's cell for the fifth time.

"I don't know"

In the director's office

"Gibbs, I got a call from detective Mac Taylor with the NY crime lab this morning about two dead marines. They want our help. I will send your team because one of the dead marines is your missing Captain" the director told Gibbs. And before Gibbs could say anything the director continued

"You will leave right away. The investigation will be in NY because there was an other victim with a note, possibly connected to the two dead marines, saying there will be more victims" when the director was finished Gibbs walked out of the office and back to the bullpen.

Back in the bullpen

Tony opened his emails and found the usual stuff. Emails about cases that he knew Gibbs wouldn't deal with and emails about free things. But one email stood out. It was an email from Kate. She had send it two nights ago, but Tony hadn't seen it before today because yesterday the team had taken a day off. At least some had. He was sure that Gibbs would be at the office and that Kate would do a little research at home. He opened the email and began to read:

_DiNozzo,_

_I'm sending you this email to tell the team that I will go visit some family that needs me. Tell Gibbs I'm sorry I had to go so quickly without telling you in person. I just had to get away for a little while._

_~ Kate_

DiNozzo read it again before telling McGee to come and look at it. From the look on McGee's face he was just as surprised by this letter as Tony was.

"Maybe she had too much. The last couple of cases got to her and she needed to get away" McGee suggested, but knew that probably wasn't the reason. Kate wouldn't just leave like that. She loved her work. _She would leave without telling them in person, there must be something wrong _thought McGee. Before they could talk more about the email Gibbs came back.

"McGee did you get Kate on the phone?"

"No, I'm sorry Boss. But she won't pick up her phone" McGee said and gestured to Tony to tell Gibbs about the email.

"Boss, Kate send me and email two nights ago. But I haven't seen it until today. She said she had to go to visit some family members and was sorry she didn't tell us in person" Tony tried to tell Gibbs this the best way, but knew there wasn't one.

_Kate went to visit some members of her family, this isn't like her. There is something wrong with her and I will find out sooner or later_ Gibbs thought to himself.

"Okay pack your bags, we have a case in NYC" Gibbs said after a few minutes.

"Are we gonna take a new case with one member short?" Tony asked as he grabbed his bag and went into the elevator right after Gibbs.

"I didn't say it was a new case DiNozzo" Gibbs said with a small smile on his lips.

**Sorry about the short chapter, but it was just to introduce the other team:) hope you still like it. If not please tell me.... on the other hand if you still like it please, please, please tell me and I will try to get the next chapter up soon:D**

**P.S. sorry I haven't updated in a while. When I came home from my vacation I was so busy with work and stuff**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry for the long wait. Hope this will make up for it:)**

"Mac I've got the COD from Sid and I have the victim's name." Stella said walking up to Mac's desk and sat down across from him.

"ID first" Mac said

"His name is John Casey he's 39 and a marine" Stella said. He watch the MO of the other bodies.

"Okay, so we've got three bodies all in the marines. All between 35-40, but with different COD. What was the COD of the last victim?" Mac asked

"From the report Sid gave me the COD is several blows to the head and stomach" Stella read to Mac. Stella showed Mac a photo of the victim. She saw the way Mac reacted to the photo that she knew something was wrong.

"What is it Mac?" Stella asked after a couple of minutes.

"Just recognized the name. He was in the same unit as me in the marines. He was a good friend of mine, but we lost contact over the years. I haven't heard from him in so long that I didn't recognized his name right away" Mac said and looked at this office wall with the pictures of his marines days.

In front of the NYPD building

Gibbs, Tony, and McGee got out of the cab they had taken from the airport, and walked into the building. Gibbs went up to the security desk to get a pass.

"What can I help you with?" asked the security guard on duty.

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS, I'm here to talk to the detective in charge of the crime lab" Gibbs said.

"Okay. One moment please" the guard took the phone and dialled a number. Moments later he spoke into the phone.

"Detective Taylor a Special Agent from NCIS is here to talk to you"

"Okay I will send him up" he then hang up and turned his attention back to Gibbs.

"You can go up now" Gibbs didn't respond but walked over to the elevator with the others right behind him.

When they reached the floor of the crime lab they walked out of the elevator. They continued down the hallway until they stood out side Detective Taylor's office.

Mac's office

When Mac was done telling Stella about how he knew the victim there was a knock on the door. They both looked up and saw Hawkes standing in the doorway. Mac mentioned for him to come in just as his phone rang.

"Taylor" he said

"Okay, that's great. Just send them up. It's okay" Mac said to the person on the other end. In the meantime Hawkes told Stella about what he had found out.

"I looked into the background of the latest victim and found something interesting. He knew..." Hawkes said, but was interrupted by Stella before he could continue.

"Mac Taylor" Stella said. Hawkes looked shocked that she knew what he was going to say. "Mac just told me" Stella said smiling.

"Oh okay. Well then I don't have something knew to tell you" Hawkes said and started to walk out, but was stopped by Mac's voice.

"Hawkes tell the others to meet us in the conference room in twenty minutes" Mac said and continued when he saw the look on Stella's face. "The NCIS team just got here. They are on the way up"

When Hawkes left Stella turned to Mac and smiled.

"What?" Mac asked

"Nothing, just happy you opened up to me" Stella said. They looked into each others eyes. Over the past few month they had become closer friends. They both wanted something more, but was afraid of how they other would react. They held each others eyes locked. It was something that happened more often, but before they could do anything there was another knock on the door.

"May Taylor. Long time no see" Gibbs said as he walked through the door to Mac's office.

"Jethro Gibbs. I didn't know I would have the pleasure to work with you" Mac said back. They both walked forward and hugged each other. It wasn't something they normally did, but they had been best friends in the marines and hadn't seen each other for so long.

"Yeah well you do. So what can you tell me about your case?" Gibbs asked and looked at Stella with a smile on his face. When he had walked into the office he had seen Mac lock eyes with a beautiful woman. Mac didn't look happy when he had interrupted them. Gibbs could read his old friend like an open book and could see that his old friend was in love.

"I have told my team to meet me in the conference room in twenty minutes. So I will tell you about the case there. First of all I would like to introduce you to my partner Stella Bonasera" Mac said to Gibbs and introduced Stella to his old friend.

"How nice to meet you Stella. I'm Jethro Gibbs. I was in the marines with Mac. Mac this is my team Tony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee." Gibbs said and turned to his team as he introduced them.

"I really hope you can help us, because I don't want any more to die" Mac said before Flack came running in to the room.

"Mac I'm sorry to tell you this, but I got a body. It's not a male this time so I don't think it has anything to do with the case, but you never know" Flack said

"You're right. I will send Hawkes to the crime scene and if he says it has nothing to do with the case he can turn it over to someone else. You can go tell him" Mac said to Flack as be left. "Well should we go and get started with this case?" Mac asked

In the conference room

"Okay team this is the NCIS team that is going to help us with this case" Mac said to the NY team when they were all in the conference room, except for Hawkes and Flack. "Danny Messer, a CSI. Adam Ross our lab tech. Sid Hammerback our ME. Then we have Sheldon Hawkes who is out at crime scene. And Detective Flack who you saw in my office" Mac told the NCIS team.

"Thank you Mac. Okay so now that we know you. You should know who we are" Gibbs said as he stood up. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs. And this is Special Agent DiNozzo and McGee"

"Now that we know each other we can get started" Stella said and stood up to start telling the NCIS team what they knew so far.

"We have three victims. All male between 45-50 years old. They are all in the marines. We didn't know it was the same killer before we saw the last victim. He offender left a note saying 'More to come. One will hit harder than you think'. The COD for all the victims are different" Stella said and Mac took over.

"We don't know anything else. Flack said something about the victim Hawkes is with right now maybe connected to this case. We don't know before Hawkes call us. But I do think we need a real profiler for this case" Mac said. DiNozzo looked at his boss to see how he would react to needing a profiler and Kate wasn't here.

"I think you're right Mac. It really sounds like we need a profiler. Unfortunately our profiler is on vacation right now, so if you know one we could use it would be great" Gibbs said with a far away look in his eyes when he talked about Kate.

"Maybe I can be a help with the profiler" Stella said and continued when she get the okay nod from both Mac and Gibbs. "Mac you remember the friend I told you about that lives with me for some time?" Stella waited for Mac's nod before she continued. "Well she's a profiler, maybe she could help" Stella said.

"If she could that would be great" Mac said

"I'll go ask her now. The sooner the better, right" Stella said with a smile to which Mac responded. As soon as Stella was gone Mac's cell phone rang.

"Taylor"

"Hold on I will put you on speakers" Mac said and put the phone down on the table after pushing a bottom. "What do you have Hawkes?"

"There are two victims this time. It's both female. One is between 30-35 and the other is a little girl no more than 8 years old" Hawkes said.

"How do you know it's connected to this case?" DiNozzo asked

"And who is this?" Hawkes asked

"Hawkes is okay. It's the NCIS team." Mac said

"Okay. The offender left another note. 'Now that I have your attention, no more marines'" Hawkes read out loud.

"Okay so it sounds like this guy just wanted both our attention." Gibbs said. "No more marines? Do you think that means he's going to kill innocent people until we catch him?" Gibbs asked. No one knew what to answer so kept quite.

"Thank you Hawkes. Bring the victims back to autopsy" Mac said and ended the call. "Now we just wait till the profiler comes before we can do anything more" Mac said to the group in front of him.

In Stella's apartment

"Hey Penguin. Do you think you could help us with a case?" Stella asked as she saw her friend.

"Yeah. I'm just going to profile right?" Penguin said

"Jep. Thank you so much. Come on lets go"

Back in the Crime lab

"Hey guys here is my friend" Stella said and walked in to the conference room where the others still where.

"Hey I'm Ka...." Penguin was interrupted by Gibbs

"Kate? What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked

**Thank you so much for reading. Please review and I will promise to update soon. I almost have the next chapter finished. More reviews will make the wait shorter:)**


	5. Chapter 5

"I could ask you the same thing." Kate said. Everyone could hear how angry Kate was by her voice.

"You didn't answer my question" Gibbs said annoyed that Kate wouldn't answer.

"I don't have anything to tell that I haven't already" Kate said after a couple of minutes of silence. Gibbs got really mad at Kate for not answering what he asked and got out of his chair and walked over to stand in front of Kate.

"WILL YOU JUST ANSWER MY QUESTION ALREADY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, SPECIAL AGENT TODD?" Gibbs said shouting at Kate. Kate was angry at him for yelling like that at her in front of all the other people, she also wanted to cry. She knew she couldn't control her emotions and decided to run out of the room instead. Stella saw the emotions running through Kate and when she ran out of the room Stella decided to run after and see if her friend was all right.

In the bathroom

Stella walked in through the doors and could here Kate crying already.

"Penguin are you okay?" Stella asked and saw Kate sitting in one of the stalls with her head in her hands.

"No... I..I'm.. Not" Kate responded with some trouble because of tears.

"Oh Penguin. You don't have to be upset over your emotions. I know you're pregnant and can control them. Lindsay was the same way some days. I probably would too if my boss was yelling at me" Stella said to comfort Kate.

"It's not that. He not just my boss, Stella. He's the father of my child. He was the reason I left in the first place. We have been having fights just like this one, just much worse. I knew he would be mad that I didn't tell him I was leaving but after our last fight I just couldn't look at him. I love him with all my heart, what am I supposed to do?" Kate asked with more tears running down her checks.

Back in the conference room

"What was the yelling for boss?" DiNozzo asked. He was the first person after Kate and Stella left who said anything.

"Don't DiNozzo" Gibbs said

"Yes I will. She my friend and partner. You can't treat her like this. She's a good agent and you know it. I told you about the email she send me. And if you ask my I think she wanted to get away from you. Over the last couple of weeks all you have been doing is fighting, McGee help me out here" DiNozzo said. He could tell something was going on between Gibbs and Kate. They were at each others throats all the time. McGee was about to answer when the door opened and Hawkes walked in. Gibbs, Mac, and Danny was glad they could talk about something else. McGee was glad he didn't have to say anything about to Tony or Gibbs.

"Hawkes what have you got?" Mac asked

"As I told you over the phone there was a note there. The victims were two females, I would say mother and daughter. Just like at the other scene the offender didn't leave anything behind. But I do think this is something personal" Hawkes said as he sat down in a chair beside Danny and across the NCIS team.

"Okay. What makes you think this is something personal?" Gibbs asked, but before Hawkes could answer Kate and Stella got back in to the room.

"Okay you wanted my help with a case right?" Kate asked and looked at everyone except Gibbs.

"Yes we would like your help to profile the offender for us. We don't have many clues to who he is, so this will really help us." Mac said and turned to the board behind him to start explaining the case. Both he and Stella told Kate about the case. After they were done they turned to Kate and waited for her profile.

"This probably sounds strange, but from what I have heard I think you are looking for an offender who is doing this for personal reasons. It look like he was waiting for NCIS to came and help. And with the latest crime scene you can see that. I don't think he will stop here. He won't stop before he gets what he wants" Kate said and had everyone's attention.

"Hawkes find out who the two victims are and get the autopsy report from Sid" Mac said

"Mac I think we should find out why we were brought together. It must have something to do with some of us" Gibbs said after Hawkes was gone.

"I think so too. We could think about something, but we can't make any decisions before we know who the latest victims are." Mac said and walked out of the room to his office. He wanted to look at something, he didn't know if it was connected to the case, but he didn't want to risk anything. Gibbs wanted to talk to Mac about a gut feeling he had and walked out after Mac. Stella and Kate decided to go to her office and have a little talk. Stella wanted to know more about Kate and Gibbs' relationship. When Kate had called her six month ago she had found the love of her life she was really happy for her. Stella knew she had found hers too, but wouldn't ruin the friendship they had. Stella knew she loved Mac as more than a friend, but she didn't want to get hurt if the feelings weren't returned.

**I know it's a short chapter, but I got stuck. I promise my next chapter will be better. I still hope that you will review my story. It helps my write the chapters. If people wants to read them, then I will write more chapters. **

**I'm going on an Easter holiday so the next chapter won't come up for another two weeks, sorry.**


	6. Chapter 6

Stella sat down in her chair behind her desk as Kate sat opposite her. A few minutes go by before one of them starts to talk.

"So what really happened between you too? Six months ago you were all happy and now you are yelling at each other." Stella said

"As I have already told you he's very protected of me. I can't do anything without him knowing exactly what it is. At a crime scene I'm left to do all the things that can't hurt me or get me upset. He doesn't allow me to go to interrogate suspect any more, only victims or family to victims. I can't be the same Special Agent I was before we got together" Kate explain to Stella.

"I can only imagine what it would be like. I don't like it when Mac get overprotected of me. He won't let me come along with him to interrogate a dangerous suspect, but I won't let him go alone either so at some point we always go together. Just tell him what you feel, I'm sure he would let you do more if you actually talked about it together instead of fighting over it" Stella said and smiled at her friend. Kate sighed, she knew her friend was right but every time she tried to talk about it, it always ended in a fight.

"Believe me I have tried. By I don't think anything will change soon, especially when I tell him about the baby. He has already lost one and won't loose another one, I'm sure." Kate said and looked away. After some time she found her friends eyes again.

"Do you think we can talk about the case? Can I see the files again? Maybe I can find something more to the profile" Kate said

"Sure, anything that can help us" Stella smiled.

In Mac's office

"So what is going on between you and Kate?" Mac asked as soon as Gibbs had closed the door.

"Not much" Gibbs said. He didn't want to talk about it here, but knew his friend would want to know.

"Come on, I know you are like me when it comes to conversations about feelings, but you know me and we always tell each other." When Mac didn't get a respond he continued "Maybe later at my place? You think you could come over to my apartment tonight and discuss the case plus other things. I know you wouldn't drop the case before it's over, just like me" Mac said with a small smile on his face. He was glad to see his old buddy again, but would have liked it to be under other circumstances.

"Yeah, that would be fine." Gibbs said. He was actually looking forward to it. He really wanted to talk to someone about what he was going through with Kate and knew Mac was the right person for the job. Before their conversation could go any further they were interrupted by the ladies.

"Mac I think we need to have another meeting" Stella said and left for the conference room once again. Mac and Gibbs followed after calling the others. As they walked in to the conference room once again the two teams was talking like they had known each other their whole life. Mac went to stand at the end of the table before he addressed Stella.

"What do you have?" He asked

"It's not exactly what I have more about what Kate found out" Stella said and let Kate take over.

"Okay so I already said that this was personally, which I still think it is. The first three victims were in the military and I think they were killed to get the NCIS team to New York. The only way for that to happen was the military background and the fact that one of the victims were from an ongoing investigation of ours. Further more Stella told me that victim number three was an old friend of yours Mac, which would make this case even more personal." Kate said and looked at both teams as she explained it. She looked at Mac for him to confirm what she had just said.

"Well, actually it wasn't just my friend,but also yours Jethro" Mac said and looked at Jethro. Gibbs looked at the victim's name again and found a name that he knew.

"Yeah, that's right. He served with us. Can't believe I didn't see it right away" Gibbs said.

"Don't worry I didn't either." Mac said and turned to Kate to let her continue.

"Well, yes. The next two victims came soon after NCIS was called and I'm assuming the offender was keeping an eye on you Mac, otherwise I can't explain how the note matched. Also I don't have a connection with you two" Kate said and pointed to Mac and Jethro "and the latest victims yet, but when I do I will tell you" Kate said and sat down in a chair.

"Okay thank you Kate. Hopefully we will know more soon" Mac said

"Mac I have the names of the latest victims. The women is 34 year old Sophia Wilson and her daughter Anna Wilson, who is 7 years old." Hawkes said "I don't know if they know any of the other victims yet" He finished.

"I don't think they do. I believe he chooses his victims in some sort of way as a reference to Mac and Je... Gibbs, I just don't know how yet." Kate said.

Later that night

Gibbs and Mac sat in Mac's apartment and talked about the case. What they knew and what they thought about the whole thing. After they were done with their dinner they relaxed on the couch with a beer.

"I really love her Mac" Gibbs suddenly said.

"Who?" Mac asked even though he kind of had an idea to who it was.

"Kate" Gibbs said. He didn't know how to tell Mac about him being a bastard all the time.

"Tell me what happened. From the way you two are acting around each other I can see a lot of tension." Mac said

"The last time I saw her was in Washington. We had a big fight about me always been overprotected of her, but who can blame me. I don't want to lose her, I love her too much for that to happen to me again. After our big fight she left my house and I thought I would see her again the next day, but I didn't and when the week began she didn't show up at work. At that point I knew I had messed up. I knew I probably didn't see her again. I was really angry at myself for letting that happen, but what could I do. She didn't leave me anything that said where she was. I found out just before going here that she had send an email to DiNozzo, but not me. That just made my anger rise. And when I saw her here I just couldn't stand it any more.... now she hates me even more. What am I going to do?" Gibbs asked. He really needed a friends opinion on this one.

"I don't know what to say Jethro. Tell her you're sorry, even though I know that's hard for you. Maybe she just wants to hear you still cares for her and just wants her the best. It can't hurt to try, she might just need you as much as you need her" Mac said to his friend. After talking together for some, mostly about their time together in the military, time they decided to turn in for the night. Gibbs stayed in Mac's spare room. As Mac was laying in his bed he kept thinking about what he had told his friend. How he had giving him advise on something he needed himself. Advise on how to tell a woman you care for her and need her in your life.

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, please keep them coming. I honestly couldn't do this without your help, the reviews keep me going without them I wouldn't keep writing. **

**Hoped you liked this chapter. Please leave a review:)**


	7. Chapter 7

Stella woke in her bed and heard sounds coming from the hall way. She went to see what made them. As she got out in the hall she didn't see anything but could hear noises in the kitchen. When she got there she saw Kate sitting in a chair reading the paper.

"Morning" Stella said and sat down next to Kate

"Morning. Did I wake you? I'm sorry if I did. I just couldn't sleep any more" Kate apologized.

"Don't worry. I had to get up anyway. You know work doesn't wait for us to wake up and Mac would get made if I didn't come in on time with a case like this" Stella told Kate. Kate just nodded she knew Jethro would be mad at her too if she didn't come in and helped them. Stella walked over to the fridges and looked inside. She got some eggs out and began to make breakfast.

"Why don't you get ready while I make some breakfast Penguin" Stella said and smiles as she saw her friends face light up at the sound of breakfast. "When you come back it will be waiting for you to eat it. Now hurry" After making breakfast Stella sat the table and when she was done Kate came out and sat down.

"It smells really good Snowflake. And I'm starving" Kate said and began eating her breakfast.

"Just eat to need it. Remember you're eating for two now" Stella said and smiled when her friends face lit up once again.

"Yeah... I was thinking about that last night and I really can't wait to be a mother" Kate said

"I know you will be great. And I will spoil her every time I see her. Which I can tell you right now will be a lot. You are like a sister to me and that baby is either going to be my niece or nephew." Stella said. Kate was looking at Stella when she said all that and felt tears in her eyes.

"Of course you are going to see the baby. You are like a sister to me too. I'm not going to let this baby grow up without it's godmother.... you do want to be the godmother right?" Kate asked not caring any more about the tears.

"Yes, I would love too" Stella said with tears running down her checks. After eating breakfast Stella went to get ready and soon they were headed for the door. Before they got there, there was a knock. Stella opened the door and was meet by a voice.

"It's nice to finally meet you, ladies"

In Mac's office

Mac and Gibbs had come in early. As both men were marines sleeping was never something they did much of, so they had both woken up early and other some much needed coffee they had decided to head to work and look at little more on the case before the rest got their. It was now 8 am and the team was slowly coming in for the day. Each member of Gibbs' team was paired to a member of the CSI team. Jethro was with Mac, Kate with Stella, DiNozzo with Danny (which probably wasn't the greatest idea) and McGee with Adam. McGee was paired with Adam so they could help each other with computer stuff, mostly Gibbs just wanted McGee with Adam so if they needed to hack into something McGee was there to help.

Mac and Gibbs could see the NCIS team come in to the lab and go to find their 'partner' and get started with what ever evidence they had to work on, which wasn't much. They also tried to find connections between the victims but hadn't come up with any thing so far. Soon they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Mac looked up from a file and saw Hawkes standing outside waiting for approval to come in. Mac waved his hand to Hawkes to let him know it was okay to come in.

"Did you find something Hawkes?" Mac asked as Hawkes came to a standstill in front of Mac's desk.

"Yes, I got the autopsy report from Sid. The woman and her daughter was shot close range to the head" Hawkes said and gave the report to Mac. "It's a new MO for this guy Mac, why do you think that is?" Hawkes asked after Mac had read the whole report and giving it to Gibbs.

"I don't know for sure. We will have to have Kate look at that, but it might be for not getting caught" Mas said to answer Hawkes question. Hawkes excused himself and left the office leaving Mac and Gibbs alone again.

"Speaking of Kate where is she? And where is Stella?" Gibbs asked. He knew Kate was on time when they had a big case and assumed that Stella also were. But they hadn't seen them yet and it was already 8.30 am. He looked at Mac for an answer.

"I don't know. Maybe they are just running late because of girl-talk" Mac said but Gibbs could hear in his voice that he didn't believe what he was saying. Before they could talk more about the girls Mac's phone rang. They looked at each other with a knowing expression on their face. Another murder they had to go to. Mac looked at the ID and saw Flack's name and knew his thought was right.

"Taylor" Mac said

**Sorry for the cliffie. Hope you guys liked this chapter even though it's a little short, but I just had to let go here. **

**If you want to know who's at Stella's door and what the phone call Mac get is about, leave a review and the next chapter will come a lot sooner:)**


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you want?" Stella asked the man standing in her doorway. She didn't like that the man had a gun in his hand. _What could this guy want, I don't know him and by the expression on Kate's face she doesn't know him either_ Stella thought as she looked over to where Kate was standing.

"I want to play with you" The man said.

"What?" Kate asked

"You heard me. I want to play with you, and when I'm done your guys ain't going to find out what happened to you" the man said with a smile on his face. That statement made both Stella and Kate freeze in their spot. _He wants to play with us and kill us afterwards?_ Stella asked herself. She didn't want to die know. So many times had she been close to death, but nothing had happened then. She sighed, about the times of her near death experience or Mac's because all those times she wanted to tell Mac how she really felt about him, but never did. _Now I will never get that chance_.

"They will find us before you can do anything" Kate said. She knew it wasn't true but had to believe it. She hated herself right now for not telling Gibbs about what was going on between them. _He will never know that I really love him and that he is going to be a father_.

"Of course they are... Kate, right?" Kate looked at him in shock. _How did he know my name_. "Oh.. you didn't think I would know your name, and you're the profiler. You must know when you want someone to get hurt for what they did to you, you must do the same to them" the man in front of them said. Stella looked at him for a couple of minutes before it hit her. He was after Mac and Gibbs. _ So Kate was right, it was something personal. He wants them both to suffer_.

"If you're after Mac and Gibbs why are you here?" Stella asked even though she knew the answer. _Stella, he wants them to suffer and what's the greatest way to do that? Take away the only thing they love... but Mac doesn't love me. This guy isn't very smart after all_ Stella said to herself.

"I'm here to take away the ones the love. You see, I have been studying them for some time now, and I have seen how they are around you two. You are my final piece in this case, but I only need one of you with me.... hhmmm who is it going to be?" the man said, to no one in particular.

Kate and Stella looked at each other. They knew what this meant. One had to go with him and the other would be left behind, no one would be sure they were going to live. Stella knew what she had to do. She would be anything to make sure Kate got out of this alive, she would give anything to make sure of that.

"You know what... I'm going to let you two decide that" the man said and walked past them into the bathroom, still making sure he could see what they were doing. Kate and Stella didn't have time to talk to each other before the man came into the living room again. He looked at Stella and then at Kate before he spoke.

"Who is pregnant?" he asked. Kate and Stella looked at each other. Stella could tell that Kate was scared of what to do, so was she. She knew she had to take Kate's place, going with this guy wouldn't be safe for Kate, Stella just hoped Kate would survive if this guy was going to do her any harm.

"I'm the one there is pregnant" Stella said and looked at a shocked Kate.

"I don't believe you" the man said. Kate didn't say anything she was too scared of what would happen to her now that the man didn't think Stella was telling the truth.

"I'm telling you the truth, I'm the one that is pregnant. Please don't hurt her" Stella said

"I don't believe you" the man said and walked over to them both. He knocked Kate to the floor with his gun and turned to Stella.

"Tell me the truth and your friend will live" the man said.

"Okay, Okay... Kate's the one that is pregnant. Please don't hurt her. I will do anything for you to not hurt her" Stella pleased the man

"I know you will, trust me I would have taken you anyway. Can't wait to see Mac's face when he finds out you're gone. To bad I can't be there." the man said and lifted his guy.

In Mac's office

"We have another crime scene Mac" Flack said over the phone.

"Okay Jethro and I will be there soon... Don have you heard from Stella?" Mac asked. He was getting worried about Stella. She normally would be the first in the office, after himself of course, and yet he hadn't seen her. Flack was Stella's friend too, so maybe she had called him.

"No I haven't heard from her. Mac you know that you'll always be the first to hear from her if she's late, so why ask me. I wouldn't know anything about that, well maybe just that one time when you two were still not talking after your fight, but that's all. She will be there when you come back, but right now we have a new body" Flack said. He could hear that Mac was worried. He knew Mac cared about Stella even thought he wouldn't admit it.

Mac hung up with Flack and turned to Gibbs.

"We have a new crime scene. Hopefully the girls will be here when we come back" Mac added when he saw Gibbs question about the girls. They got to the crime scene fast. It was just a few blocks from _Ground Zero_. The body was a woman found in an alley. They saw Flack standing next to the victim and walked up to him.

"We haven't found any ID yet, but she looks like she could be between 30-35 years old" Flack said and looked from his notes to Mac and Gibbs.

"Okay, well it looks like it's the same MO as the mother and daughter. Gunshot wound to the head" Mac said as he looked at the body.

"Was there anything else?" Gibbs asked. He had a feeling there was something different about the last two crime scenes. _He started to kill marines to get our attention, they were males. Why kill women after stopping with killing marines?_ Gibbs asked himself. He couldn't find the connection between the two things.

"Well there was another note" Flack said and both Mac and Gibbs turned their head to look at him. "I don't know how to say this, but this offender is making this personally" Flack said and gave Mac the note.

_This was the past. The next will be the present_

Mac read the note two times before he handled it over to Gibbs. Mac looked at the woman before him and though about the last crime scene. _ A woman and her daughter, then another woman. No more marines. The past. The next will be the present. One will hit harder than you think. Could this be... No, could it?_

**Thank you so much for your reviews. Please keep them coming:)**


	9. Chapter 9

AN: I know it's been a long time since I updated this story, but I hope this longer chapter makes up for it. I really hope you guys like it.

Also thank you so much for all your review, they are great so please keep them coming:)

Mac looked around the crime scene to compare it to the previous one. After some time he called Gibbs over to him.

"Do you see what I see?" Mac asked as he showed Gibbs the note the offender left on the body. Gibbs read the note and took a look around the crime scene. As his eyes went back to Mac he had an expression on his face that told Mac that he knew what he meant.

"Do you think that's what he's trying to say?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know, but it makes sense. The last crime scene was your past and this is mine. " Mac said.

"It makes sense. So what do you think he means with this note? _The next will be the present_..." Gibbs stopped in the middle of the sentence and looked at Mac who looked like he had just thought the same thing.

"The girls." They said at the same time and ran for the truck. They ran past Flack who looked at them and was about to say something when Mac yelled over his shoulder.

"Flack, call Danny to process this crime scene. We might need your help later, but make sure Danny processes this scene down to every little detail. The offender might have left something this time and meet me back at the lab if you don't hear from me before that" Mac finished and climbed into the truck. When he was inside the truck they left the scene.

A little while later they were at Stella's apartment. They walked up to the apartment building and tried Stella's intercom, but she didn't answer. Mac looked at Gibbs and could see that he was just as nervous as he was. Mac got his keyring out to look for Stella's key so he could open the door, but before he got that far someone opened the door. Mac looked up and saw Stella's neighbor holding the door open.

"Hi Mrs. Jones, have you seen Stella leave this morning?" Mac asked Stella's neighbor, an old woman who was really sweet.

"I didn't see her leave, but I heard noises from her apartment a little while ago. Have you tried the intercom?" Mrs. Jones asked Mac.

"Yes we have. Anyway thank you for your help Mrs. Jones." Mac rushed into the building with Gibbs. Mac decided that the elevator took too long and ran up the stairs with Gibbs right behind him. When they came to Stella's door they knocked, but when they door opened by itself they reached for their guns and walked inside quietly.

They slowly walked into Stella's apartment. They couldn't hear anything so if the offender was after the girls he could already have been here. They came to the opening of the living room and looked inside. At first they couldn't see anything, but as they were about to move further into the apartment they saw a foot at the end of the couch. When they got closer they could see the foot belonged to Kate and Gibbs ran over to her. He gently kneeled beside Kate and shook her a little.

"Katie wake up, come on open your eyes" Gibbs said and not to long after Kate opened her eyes. Gibbs couldn't stop smiling when he saw her beautiful eyes locking with his.

"Hey there, are you okay?" Gibbs asked to make sure she was okay. It didn't look like there was any harm done to her, but he had to make sure.

"Yeah we're both fine." Kate said as she looked at Gibbs, before looking around the room to see if she could see Stella anywhere.

"Jethro where is Stella?" Kate asked with worry in her voice. Gibbs looked at her shocked for a moment before he answered her.

"I.. I don't know. I thought you said you were both fine." He stroked her cheek lovingly.

Mac left the living room when he saw Kate on the floor, the only thing he had in mind was to find Stella. He went into the kitchen to see if Stella was there, but he found no one. After checking the kitchen he went into the hallway again to check the rest of Stella's apartment. He walked down the hallway and checked the spare bedroom and the bathroom, but with no luck finding her. After checking the bathroom he now stood in front of her bedroom. He hesitated before entering. _Please God, let Stella be in her bedroom_, Mac thought. He put his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door. When the door was halfway opened he took a deep breath, to prepare himself for what he could expect, and pushed the door all the way open and walked inside.

He was terrified when he walked inside the bedroom and didn't see Stella there. He checked her bathroom, but that was empty like the rest of the apartment except the living room. _He has her, the bastard has her. Who is he and what did I do to deserve this?_ Mac asked himself as he walked back to the living room. When he got to the door opening he heard some of the conversation and stopped.

"_Yeah we're both fine." _

"_Jethro where is Stella?"_

"_I.. I don't know. I thought you said you were both fine."_

"_What do you mean you don't know where Stella is... he has her, doesn't he?"_

"_I don't know. I think Mac is looking for Stella right now, maybe she's in one of the other rooms. Katie what did you mean by 'We're both fine'?" _

"_Me and our child."_

"_Yo.. You're pregnant, we're pregnant?"_

"_Yes, we're pregnant. I'm sorry I left the way I did..."_

Mac had heard enough. He was really happy for the both of them, but he couldn't be happy if Stella was missing. It was too much to think about being happy when the one person you love is gone. _You will find her, Mac _said to himself. He left Gibbs and Kate to talk some more and walked into the kitchen. He looked around and saw three picture frames on the kitchen table, he walked over to them and looked at them. The first one was of Lucy, his godchild, it was taken a few weeks back when he and Stella had babysat for the Messers.

"_Mac look at her, she's__so adorable. You can't do anything but love her." Stella said, talking about the little girl who was covered in food not to say Mac too. Mac had looked away from feeding Lucy for only a minute, but it was enough for Lucy to take the plate from the table and throw the food all over herself and Mac. _

"_Yeah, you're right. I can't be mad at her, she's too cute" Mac said and heard Stella laughing, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard so he couldn't get mad at her either. Here he was with the only two women in this world he couldn't get mad at, and they ganged__up on him, because when Lucy heard Stella laugh she did too. Mac looked back at Lucy and couldn't resist__the child's laugh and joined them._

It had been a perfect day for Mac. Not so much the food covered clothes, but being with the two women he loved. Lucy being his goddaughter was great, he got to spoil her, like the daughter he never had. And Stella being there made the day perfect, because she's his best friend and partner, and so much more. And that day he saw what it would be like to have a family with Stella, it was something he dreamed about every night and now that might never come true.

The next picture was of the team. It was taken before Jessica's death, which took everyone by surprise. It was taken at the bar they always went to after a tough case Mac remembered.

"_I think we should toast to great friendship, something a lot of people envy" Flack said and brought his beer to his mouth. _

"_I hear you on that one. But not all of us can have a friendship like Mac and Stella." Danny said and laughed together with Flack._

"_What's that supposed to mean?" Mac and Stella asked at the same time, they looked at each other and laughed a little before looking at the group again._

"_Don't take it the wrong way, but there's__got to be more to your friendship. I haven't seen anybody who could work that great together without having feelings for each other." Jessica said_

_Stella said defensively__,__"There is nothing going on between Mac and me. We're great friends and have been for 10 years." _

"_Yeah, but you always know what the other one is thinking without talking, that has__always freaked__me out." Hawkes joined the conversation._

"_That comes from a__great partnership over a long period of time. There is nothing more to it. End of conversation." Mac changed the subject to something else. _

Later that evening Flack had made someone take a picture of them. Mac didn't know why, but Flack always made sure to have a group picture taken when they went out together, maybe because they never were together at the same time or because it was so rare. The team went out to get drinks often, but Mac and sometimes Stella stayed at the lab to do paperwork. Not that he liked doing that, but he thought it was better than to answer personal questions which people always thought they could ask him at their night out.

The last picture was of Stella and himself. He remembered the evening that the picture was supposed to be taken, but he didn't remember there was a camera.

_They were at the silver wedding anniversary celebration for Sid and his wife. Stella was wearing a beautiful dress, which fit perfectly. It was a beautiful dark blue. They were sitting close together on a bench outside__the ballroom surrounded by roses and other beautiful flowers. _

In the picture Mac could see that they were looking each other in the eye with such intensity that he could read his love for her in his eyes and if he wasn't mistaken she was showing the same thing. Before he could think about that evening any more he was interrupted by Gibbs.

"Are you okay Mac? When you didn't come back we went looking for you and found you here. Maybe we should call the teams and start looking for Stella" Gibbs knew how much Stella meant to Mac even thought Mac never said anything, but the last time Gibbs saw Mac and Stella together he could see how much they loved each other. He would help Mac find her. She wasn't just important to Mac, but to Kate too, they were best friends and Gibbs wanted to help Kate and Mac, no matter how much he had to do.

Mac just nodded, he knew he didn't have the strength to talk and left the room. He went into the living room and got his cell phone out to call Flack. They have a crime scene to process.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so sorry for not finishing this story sooner. Hope you guys still want to read it, but if you have lost interest that's fine too. **

**A lot have come in the way for me to finish this and I lost my connection with this story. But here is the last chapter, I hope you like it :)**

The teams meet back at the lab. This was difficult for everyone on the New York team, Stella was like a mother to the team. But Mac took it the hardest. Kate too was a little of, but was glad that her and Gibbs was finally talking again, and that he would be a part of their unborn child. The other team knew how it felt to have one on the team missing and would do anything to help them get Stella back. They had talking a likening to the NY team and would probably be friends after this.

"Okay team. We have five crime scene, where we have found bodies and one crime scene being Stella's apartment. Danny what do you have on the latest murder?" Mac asked

"Well the last victim is a female between 30-35, as of right now we don't know her name but hopefully we will within the hour" Danny answered

"What we know so far is that this is personal. The note said _This was the past. The next will be the present_ so we know that the offender will probably kill Stella if we don't find her in time." Gibbs said

"I have something that might help with this" Kate suddenly said.

"What is it Kate? Please say it's something about the offender, that way we might be able to figure out who he is" Lindsay pleaded Kate. Lindsay had come back to work today after hearing that Stella was missing and left Lucy with the sitter.

"It is about the offender. He said something to us before he left with Stella..."

"What was it Kate?" Mac asked. Fear clear in his voice. You could hear he was scared of not finding Stella alive and Kate knew this new information would scare him even more.

"He said that he can't wait to see Mac's expression when he sees that Stella is missing. He thought I was out of it, but I heard him. I'm really sorry Mac. This guy is clearly someone you both know. He knew we would be the best way to make you suffer, and by taking Stella I would say that that hurts you more, Mac, than it hurts Gibbs to take me away... Mac I think this has something to do with love, and maybe to two took away his love and that he never got to say _I love you_ to the right person" Kate looked pained when she said that. She had to take a seat and looked at Mac to see his reaction.

Mac looked shocked at first, but he eventually came back to the present to turn around and look at the board. He stepped closer to get a better look at all the victims.

"I think I know who this guy is. Think about it Jethro this is all about us. The first to victims to get our attention, the third was a friend of ours in the marines. This was all to get us to look for him. Then the woman and child, they represent your life Jethro. It's Shannon and Kelly don't you see it. And the last woman is Claire. It all fits now. _This was the past. The next will be the present_. The note says it all. He has Stella now, and we have to find her. This is someone we knew Jethro, it's someone who was close to us in the marine. Who could it be, think?" Mac said while looking at the board.

"I can see that, but I still don't know who I could be. I'm sorry" Jethro said

"Aww come on. One of you must know who this is. Just take a moment and think back" Danny said getting frustrated.

"Just think about someone who might think you took love away from them" Kate got in

"I think I know who it is... I'm going to kill him" Mac suddenly said storming out of the room and into his office. Everyone followed to see what happened. Mac came to a stop in front of his wall with all the pictures form his marine days.

"It's him. I'm sure. It can only be John Brown" Mac said and pointed to at picture of the platoon.

"Oh yeah, you're right. His girlfriend at the time came out with us one evening and celebrated that we came home for a week. When we got back out there he got a letter from her saying she couldn't do this anymore and had found someone else, who could love her everyday and see her every night. I remember him blaming all of us for taking her with us that night. But I didn't think that was the reason for her living him. He was difficult to be around" Jethro explained.

"But how does this help us. We don't know where he is" Hawkes said.

"McGee and Adam start looking for him now. Track everything there is. I will have him found today" Mac said

Across town

Stella sat in a chair with her hands tied to her back. She couldn't move and didn't know where she was. When he had taken her out of her apartment he had hit her on her head and knocked her out. When she woke up she was tied to the chair. When she listened she could hear the ships nearby so she knew she was at the docks somewhere. She just hoped that Mac would find her soon.

She could hear footsteps and saw a figure coming closer. Soon she was hit across the face again.

"So my love. I can see that you are wake. Time to get some fun" The man laughed.

At the same time in the lab

"Boss we just found something" McGee yelled across the lab. Both Mac and Gibbs came running in.

"What do you have?" they both said

"We think we might know where she is" Adam replied.

Across town

Stella couldn't take it anymore. She was bleeding really bad from her head and face. But he wouldn't stop beating her. She really hoped that Mac would come to her rescue soon. John took a step closer and punched her in the stomach, this time she bend over crying out loud. Just as she was about to come up for air he hit her again and again and again. She must have blacked out because she didn't hear the doors being ripped open and Mac, Jethro and the teams stepping in to stop the man.

Mac came running over to Stella, when he saw her sitting in the chair bend over. He wanted to make sure she was okay. He came to sit in front of her and took her head in his hands and stroked her gently over her face trying to wake her up. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to smile at him, but it hurt to much. Soon the paramedics came running in to help her. They took her in the ambulance with Mac by her side.

In the mean time the teams took the offender away to answer some questions.

At the hospital

It didn't take the doctors long before Stella was set up in a room for her. Mac was sitting by her side when Kate and Jethro entered.

"Sorry to interrupt you. But this lady wanted to see how the patient was doing." Gibbs said walking in with Kate in his hand. Kate rushed over to Stella's side to give her a hung.

"I'm so glad you're okay" Kate said taking a seat next to the bed.

"Yeah me too" Stella replied looking at Mac who just smiled. Gibbs could see that they had talked about something big, because the way they were looking at each other told it all. These two were clearly in love.

They talked for a couple of hour, before it was time for Gibbs and Kate to leave. As they walked out of the room they turned around to see Mac giving Stella a kiss, that soon turned to more. They decided to leave quickly and get back to their hotel where they also was going to made up for lost time.

**That was the last of it. I hope you enjoyed it. It didn't finish the way I wanted it, but I really hope this ending worked for you. And sorry for any mistakes I have made hope you can see past it :)**


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